Chapter Text
When scientists first figured it out, it seemed like a miracle. But the devil always gets his due. And artificial organs were only as good as your money was… for as long as it held out.
Shinichi looked down at the 4th dead body of the day. Kakashi Reno never stood a chance. Born with a bad heart and only one good kidney, his death at an early age had been all but assured. The organs he’d leased from GeneCo had prolonged his life, but a mid-level business man couldn’t make enough to pay for his organs and all of life’s necessities. So eventually, one of GeneCo’s repo men had come to repossess Kakashi’s borrowed organs.
It wasn’t the messiest repossession Shinichi had ever seen. No. The worst had probably been a woman who had survived the repossession of her left lung. Well, survived long enough to crawl off the rooftop she’d been caught on and fall 22 stories to her death.
“Paperwork all checks out.” Shinichi’s partner, Tsuruga Yuki, announced as he walked up.
“I’m sure it does. It always does.” Shinichi answered wearily.
“Makes it a little bit easier to look at doesn’t it?”
Tsuruga was young. Maybe not much younger than Shinichi in terms of years, but young enough to say things like that. He was still too young to understand the desperation that drives people to risk everything for a few more years, maybe even a few more months of life. But he should have been old enough to understand that murder is murder, even if the letter of the law said otherwise.
Or maybe Shinichi was just too stubborn to accept that society no longer saw it that way. In his opinion, no one should have the right to take the life of another. But that was the job of the repo men. And someday… someday, they would come for him. For the organs his parents had leased to save his life. And judging by his nearly empty bank account, someday would be soon.
-xoXox-
Kaito grinned as Aoko walked in the door, a bounce in her step and happy glow around her. “I got in!” She declared proudly.
“Seriously? When did they lower their standards?”
Aoko shot a glare in Kaito’s direction. She knew he didn’t really mean it though. It was just the way they were. A smile lit up her face again before she continued deeper into the house to share the good news with her father. He would be just as proud as Kaito was, maybe even prouder. Bouncing back from the car accident that nearly killed her hadn’t been easy for Aoko. The fact that she was finally moving forward again was a small miracle. She hadn’t spoken a word for nearly two years afterwards and here she was, 5 years post-accident, gleefully sharing that she’d been accepted into the local university.
Kaito needed moments like these. Moments where he could lie to himself. Moments where he didn’t just feel like a monster in human skin. Moments where it seemed worth it.
The tablet in Kaito’s hands chirped, letting him know he had a new assignment.
Kudo Shinichi, detective. Age 23. No living relatives. In default on the lease of 13 organs. Two lungs, one heart, one stomach, two kidneys, one small intestine, one large intestine, two eyes, one cochlea, one tongue, and one larynx.
Kaito’s breath caught in his throat. Either Kudo was an insane body upgrade junkie… Or something truly horrible had happened to him. And Kaito would put good money on the later. The small intestine wasn’t something people had replaced just for kicks and giggles. Kudo had escaped death. And now Kaito had to make sure it found him again. Otherwise, death would come for Aoko. And the other repo men wouldn’t even question the order.
-xoXox-
Shinichi sat alone in the middle of the floor on his last night alive. He’d sold all his furniture the month before to try to come up with enough cash to at least pay for his essential organs. He’d failed of course. But he’d tried. He’d sold everything but his coffee maker, his police uniform, and a mug emblazoned with a cartoon version of Sherlock Holmes. Which was why he sat alone in the middle of the floor, wearing his uniform, and drinking fresh brewed coffee from a Sherlock Holmes mug... Exactly 30 days since his first missed payment.
The doorbell rang, and for a moment, Shinichi debated if he was going to answer or make the repo man break down his door. He decided to answer. It would be cowardly to do anything else. And Shinichi wasn’t leaving this world as a coward. He’d survived too much. Coming to face to gas mask with a man clothed head to toe in white plastic was hardly the scariest thing he’d ever done. “Can it wait until I finish my coffee?”
The repo man didn’t speak a word, simply gesturing for Shinichi to return inside his tiny studio apartment.
“Would you like some?” Shinichi asked as he dropped back to the floor and topped off his mug. There was probably another mug’s worth in the carafe. Not that he really wanted to share. Especially with a cold blooded murderer. But between Ran and his mother, proper etiquette had been drilled into him.
The man shook his head, walking from one corner of Shinichi’s apartment to the next, pulling open cabinet doors and drawers as he passed the small kitchenette. It was almost as if he expected to find something inside of them.
“I sold practically everything.” Shinichi informed between sips of black coffee. “I wanted another month.”
The repo man leaned against the wall near the front door and turned his head towards Shinichi. “Everyone wants another month.” He sounded younger than Shinichi would have expected.
“I’m sure they do. Every murder victim wishes they’d gotten a little more time.”
“The law says what I do isn’t murder.” Even if he’d been able to see the repo man’s face, Shinichi doubted he would have seen even a flash of remorse. One couldn’t be a repo man and still have a conscience.
Shinichi scoffed into his coffee. “So, which one are you?”
“1412.”
Well, that explained the gas mask. 1412 was renowned for always rendering his victims unconscious with knock out gas before repossessing their organs. As far as Shinichi knew, 1412 was also the only repo man to ever leave his victims at hospitals. Not all of his victims of course. But the ones that wouldn’t necessarily die without the repossessed organ. “I guess I’m glad it’s you.”
1412 stood, turning to face Shinichi fully. “I’m not.”
Shinichi cocked his head to the side. “Why not?”
“People like you… don’t deserve to die. Killing you will haunt me.”
The laugh that bubbled from Shinichi’s throat was probably a tad bit hysterical. But it didn’t last long, cut off by the pink smoke billowing from the small capsule 1412 had just thrown to the ground.